Use of vitamins/minerals/protein bars in over 50's

[moana35]

I am early 50's and the conversation with colleagues today was vitamins, minerals, protein bars and shakes. Most of them take a whole array of vitamins, cod liver oil, collagen, iron, calcium etc. One lady takes 15 different vitamin type pills. They all seem to also have lots of different protein bars and shakes to keep them healthy. I only take a vitamin D tablet but nothing else they say they are trying to ward off cancer and dementia by taking all these different supplements? I also have a friend who goes to home bargains to stock up on her protein bars, and shakes and can get a months supply for less than £10!

I wonder if I should be taking more but I generally eat three good meals a day as well as running three times a week but should I be using supplements. I feel fit and healthy and don't feel I need anything extra.

Just wondering what fellow mumsnetters do as obviously my work colleagues is a small proportion of people really but more and more people over 50 seem to speak to take alot more tablets/powders/ vitamins than I do.

If you have diagnosed osteoporosis you need a lot more protein, much more than you might think. Definitely not via protein bars or shakes though. It's a marketing thing, but like selling bottled water.

Both my grandfathers had heart attacks in their 50s, and my grandmothers died of dementia and cancer in their 60s, so if I’d rather avoid that tbh!

You can’t get vitamin D from meat.

I know I sound like a stuck record but it’s the only vitamin (it’s actually a hormone) that we can’t get enough from diet or the sun in winter.

It’s actually a hormone and it’s so important as a deficiency is implicated in many diseases including cancer.

I’ve had breast cancer and have been part of a study on prognosis after breast cancer and vitamin D levels.

Sure that’s the same thing though - if you’re taking a multivitamin that has B12…..you are supplementing with B12…

Yes we do absorb B12 less well as we get older. That is true. My Mum
became deficient and she is not a vegetarian. She avoids red meat though.

Well, I think a stand alone supplement may contain higher amounts, but I'm not sure. Some people probably do have to take it separately.

That's very interesting @Delatron has the study finished / reached any conclusions? I had BC 6 years ago and have continued to take Vitamin D all year round since then.

I take separate vitamins, then I can ensure I'm having the best forms.
I take magnesium daily, D fairly frequently at the moment and K2. Plus an electrolyte powder most days. These work together with the vitamin D
Then I take a b vitamin complex and separate b12.
I try to keep it simple and not get sucked in to fads.

I try to eat minimal packaged foods, but I'm into crisps at the moment and it's January so I'm going with it.

I take 9 supplements in total. Got to these through about two years trial and error. Am happy they support my general health.

Anti depressants also deplete b12 and also ppis.

The reason I take it separately is it can be not well absorbed by the gut, so I'll have it as a spray or small pill that melts under the tongue which is rich in blood vessels.

Weight training isn't just important for bone density and muscle mass, it keeps the ligaments strong. Strong ligaments keep everything in place and prevent things slipping, that's when people end up needing knee and hip replacements.

I also believe in supplements, it’s hard to get it all from diet.

protein, creatine, omega oils, various vitamins, all are key as is strength training. I’m like the lady who takes 15. To be fair it’s about 8 and I ensure I eat suffient protein and strength train.

Electoroyles should not be required daily. You risk too much potassium and salt. I’d reconsider this unless you’re unwell and a doctor recommended it for a short period.

I'm in my sixties and just take a multivitamin tablet when I remember. I try for daily but often forget. I run, cycle and do Pilates, but my diet is awful (I have an ED) so I use the multivits to try to make up for the stuff I'm missing.

I am not a fan of all the protein bars and shakes and drinks and stuff. I worked in a shop and used to look at the list of ingredients in these things (see ED...) and they are crammed full of rubbish. I'm not sure that a bit of extra protein makes up for all the other stuff they contain.

A genetic metabolic disorder runs in the families of me and DH. It leads to a deficiency in protein, especially tryptophan and therefore vitamin B3 and serotonin - causing secondary pellagra and mainly neuropsychiatric symptoms.

It’s so rare, there probably aren’t any controlled research studies. However, it’s intuitively obvious for us to increase our protein and vitamin B3 intake. We notice now, if DD1 (who has inherited the gene variant from both of us) misses a dose of her vitamin B3, she’s much more aggressive.

I don’t know about vitamin B12 specifically, but a metabolic dietitian told us, when a multi vitamin and mineral tablet is taken, they are all competing for absorption at once - and in DD’s case, the iron wasn’t being absorbed. She has to take iron supplements and vitamin B3 at a different time from the multivitamin.

A lot more is a bit of an exaggeration. 1-1.2g/kg is more than enough, about a quarter of a plate. Even the BMS agrees with this. 0.8g/kg for the general population.

I only take vit D3 and a prescription iron supplement. Some vitamins are poisonous in large doses, or like vitamin C get peed out if you take too much.

A lot of these supplements don't actually anything.

Yes it concluded that those with higher vitamin D levels had a better prognosis. That’s the general conclusion. I’ll see if I can find it. I very much keep on top of my levels. I’m 15 years out now.

Sorry I think my message came across wrong. I’m not actually a fan of multivitamins and think you should take individual ones as needed.

I said vegetarians need vitamin B12. Then a poster responded saying she thought that was covered in her multivitamin that’s all. And I didn’t want to argue really.

I sometimes feel I take to many supplements but most of the ones I take definitely help me.I take magnesium because it helps me sleep longer, approximately 1 hour more sleep a night when I take it constantly. Apple cider vinegar because it works better than omeprezole for me without damaging my health like omeprezole was. I take vitamin D and iron sometimes because I get low. I used to take calcium and folic acid because the omeprezole made me deficient in them.
I've been taking omega 3 capsules but not sure if they actually do anything or not. I'm getting my daughter to take them as they have been shown to help with autoimmune conditions she has Raymond syndrome and autoimmune antibodies for related autoimmune conditions (but no symptoms) since taking the omega 3 she hasn't had and episodes of Raymonds syndrome.
I also take Milled Flax seeds because they magically prevent pre menstral breast pain (but only if taken all month, if I stop taking them because they can't possibly work and wait until I get breast pain it's too late.)
I also have phylum husk because I was getting constipation from taking iron and that is what the GP recommend, although they iron in taking now doesn't seem to cause the same issues as it's supposed to be more gentle.
I'm also currently taking probiotics because I kept getting UTIs and had stomach issues after all the antibiotics

Collagen does help with gut lining. I had IBS for decades, utterly miserable. Spent a year focussing on collagen (supplements, home-made bone broth, collagen containing foods) and IBS is gone. It changed my life.

Pretty sure things like tumeric and cod liver oil can help slow down the process

Two things I hate the taste of, but I'll have to look into it...